Father Of Executed Iranian Protester Detained for Over 100 Days

The father of Mohammad Mehdi Karami, an Iranian protester executed in January, has now been arbitrarily held in Karaj Central Prison for more than 100 days, with no charges being brought against him.

On August 21, agents of the Ministry of Intelligence arrested Mashallah Karami at his home in Karaj, near Tehran.

His electronic devices, including his laptop and mobile phone, and those of his relatives were confiscated and their bank cards were blocked.

Karami was held in the Karaj Intelligence Department detention center until October 28, when he was then transferred to Karaj Central prison. 

Sources say the judiciary has set a bail amount of 7 billion tomans ($140,000) for his temporary release, an exorbitant amount the family has been unable to gather.

The authorities have also arbitrarily detained Karami's lawyer, Amir Hossein Kohkan.

Over the past 100 days, intelligence forces raided the Karami family's home twice, destroying medals belonging to their son and damaging their property.

According to Informed sources, Karami's wife and her other son have been forced to leave their home due to harassment by security forces.

Mohammad Mehdi Karami was sentenced to death in December 2022 and executed the following month over his alleged involvement in the death of a member of the Basij paramilitary force during an anti-government demonstration.

Following the execution, Mashallah Karami published images of himself visiting the graves of his son and Mohammad Hosseini, who was also sentenced to death in the case and executed in January. 

The defendants were sentenced to capital punishment based on “confessions” extracted under torture. They didn’t have access to legal counsel during the proceedings.